LESSON 10 August 28 to September 3
Church Order
means a summons to a special service,
a calling out from among the people
for the sake of servi ng them, much like
army, all of which can be used as
translations for the Greek word
ekklesia.
These institutions do not
exist for themselves. Their members
have been called to serve the whole
socie y. o
WI
c117ThZ-
--
word
ekklesia
in the New Testament
refers to the church in three ways: (1)
the entire body of. Christ,
the one
universal church, such as in Matthew
place; it is the people who constitute
the church. It is not the organization
or a group of local churches; it is the
men and women whose lives have
been united with Christ and who are
Otte'dr lei
(2)
local church
—that is, the people of
God manifested in a particular locality,
such as the church at Thessatonica
(1 Thess. 1:1) or every local church
1
4.17 o in it •lur I form it
•
esignates a group o c urc es in a
particular region, such as "the
churches of Galatia" (Gal. 1:2). The
one universal church is not the sum of
many individual churches. Rather, the
local congregations are the individual
expressions of that one undivided
church. Typical of this New Testament
view are Paul's epistles to the believers
in Corinth, whom
he dresses as "the
cfnirai of God which is at Corinth"
(1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1). For our time
and situation such a view of the
church is best expressed in such
terms as "the Seventh-day
or "the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in Brazil." (3)
the actual
assembly of believers,
such as in
First Corinthians 11:18. This does not
refer to the building, or the time but
"Wherefore, brethren, covet to
prophesy, and forbid not to speak with
tongues. Let all things be done
-decently and-in-or
40).
The New Testament writers teach of
one body of Christ but many
churches• of one minist bu
forms o service.
a is e
relationship between local
congregations and the church
universal? Between the one ministry of
Jesus Christ and the church's many
- forms of work?
,
-The-answor-biegias-
with church unity. There is onFy one
church, inseparable and undivided;
one Lord, who is the Head of that
church; one gospel, which is the basis
of the church; and one mission, which
'is the 'reason
-
Mgt
congregation, therefore, is much
more than an organizational unit of
the church at large. And a group of
churches (conference, union) is much
mare than the wrn of x
i
numberof
members or a group or local
congregations. Each church and each
group of churches is a manifestation of
the one body of Christ in a particular
location or area. This stands out clearly
---
from
-
the
-
New Testdine
Greek word
ekklesia,
which is used
more than 100 times to denote what in
our language is called the church.
(Our word "church" is a derivation
from another Greek word,
kuriakos,
which means "the Lord's" or
"belonging to the Lord."
Ekklesia,
from which our word "ecclesiastical"
has been derived, is a compound of
the words
ek,
meaning "out," and
-
kaleo;
which-means 'to-cal' "to
summon." Literally,
ekklesia
therefore means "a calling out." This
does not refer, as sometimes has been
suggested, to the church members'
separation from thoworld. It rather
man